A building-permit form redesign looks cleaner, but an A/B test shows worse completion than the current flow. Marketing wants a full rollout for a modern look. What should the Product Owner do?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Pretty is not the same as finished. If fewer people complete the permit form, the new look just painted a longer line. Park the redesign until the numbers move the right way.
Full Explanation
Measured outcomes outrank subjective aesthetics for a building-permit form whose purpose is completed citizen tasks. When an A/B test shows worse completion for a cleaner redesign, the Product Owner should stop the rollout and keep the higher-completion flow until evidence shows the redesign improves the outcome. Rolling out citywide because aesthetic preference is treated as Current Value sacrifices completion for look. Keeping both designs forever and letting each district pick a look adds cost without a value hypothesis. Declaring the test invalid because the new design used the city's new color palette dismisses outcome data for branding reasons. Exam caveat: A/B evidence of worse completion is a stop signal, not a marketing debate. Operational check: halt full rollout, retain the winning completion flow, analyze why the redesign failed, and only relaunch after a new variant beats the baseline on completion—not on palette preference. Permit form A/B losses on completion stop rollouts even when marketing prefers a modern look; aesthetics are not Current Value when tasks fail. Relaunch only when a variant beats the baseline completion rate, not when the palette matches brand guidelines.